Mark Thomas wonders who is watching

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Cuckooed review

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Mark Thomas wonders who is watching

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Gareth K Vile

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4

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Polemical and intense, Mark Thomas merges the political and personal in this taut and true tale of friendship, activism and betrayal. Based on Thomas' experiences campaigning against the arms trade – and explaining why he would become the trade's scourge – it examines the question of whether one of his closest allies had been spying on him for the people that they both protested.

Thomas' charisma carries the story, even in those episodes which require concise political detail. While he still manages the occasional joke, he is clearly moving away from being a stand-up comedian towards an effective, dramatic monologist. Using video projection to bring in a range of verbatim speeches from other members of the campaign, and trying to draw a rounded picture of how it felt to be betrayed, Thomas reveals a sensitivity to theatrical spectacle, even as he insists on the piece's integrity and honesty.

Emma Callendar's direction keeps the pace sharp, but it is Thomas who – as the writer and performer, and the heart of the story – maintains a ferocity that is equally personal and political. His passion for freedom from surveillance, and belief in the possibility of change makes this more than a drab, rhetorical exercise. It is an appeal to action.

The Least I could do.

Cuckooed is a rare work of political theatre, in that it encouraged me to further Mark Thomas' agenda against the arms trade. If theatre is a medium of debate, and I agree with Thomas on the matter of global proliferation of unethical trading of weaponry, then the critic has a duty not just to approve the performance, but to add to the discussion.

I am presenting the statement by Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood regarding the UK's entry to the Arms Trade Treaty. It made in December, and hopefully reveals the British government's belief in the nature of arms dealing. 


Today marks an important moment in history. The culmination of many years of hard work across the world, comes to fruition with the entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). This Treaty sets common international standards for arms export controls, and puts international law and human rights at the heart of the global arms trade. The ATT has the real potential to reduce human suffering, and increase security across the globe.

Tobias Ellwood

My italics - this treaty is about human rights. I want to hear how it is going to 'reduce human suffering.'

The United Kingdom has led efforts to secure the ATT from the start. In 2006, we were one of seven states to co-author the original UN Resolution calling for the creation of the Treaty, following years of hard work by civil society, to promote action to improve global controls on the trade and movement of arms. In the eight intervening years, we have continued to play a central role supporting the negotiation of the Treaty. The United Kingdom has signed, ratified, and has been applying the standards of the ATT since April this year. We regularly encourage other states to join us in this commitment.

What is 'civil society'? Is that code for lobbying groups? A less patronising way of saying 'countries that we like'?

We remain committed because the ATT matters. Today, the ATT becomes legally binding on those who have ratified it. That is a huge milestone. This is the first legally binding instrument to regulate the trade in conventional arms. Conventional weapons kill hundreds of thousands of people every year. If all states follow the principles in the ATT, we can drastically reduce these deaths.

What are the principles, then? Come on Tobias: so far, you've boasted about the UK's involvement (and wasn't that another political party that started this off, Tory-boy?) and stated the obvious (guns kill people). 

It is important that this Treaty makes a lasting difference. We encourage all states to sign up to the Treaty. The ATT will grow stronger with every state that becomes a part of it and we want it to be truly universal. Of course, the ATT will only work if states do what they sign up to do. The United Kingdom already operates one of the world’s most robust, rigorous and transparent export licensing systems. We can and will share information, best practice and assistance with other states, which do not as yet have such extensive controls.

What are the principles?
For now, though, let me end by celebrating where we are today. We are now one step closer to enshrining human rights principles into the global arms trade: one step closer, perhaps, to reflecting the ethos of the season.

And Happy Christmas to you, Tobias. What are the principles of the ATT? What does it mean? Surely a speech about ethics in government ought to contain more than a bit of back-slapping and bullshit?

Mark Thomas is Cuckooed

At the end of the first act, Mark Thomas comments that critics are

always wrong, even when they are nice. Consequently, you may wish to ignore everything I say and conclude that he is a charmless wanker who sees the world through a filter of cynical, leftist joylessness.

Cuckooed is divided into two clear acts: in the first, Thomas performs as his own warm-up man, giving a context to the play that forms the second half. He gives a whistle-stop tour of his activism, picking out highlights from his small acts of dissent - the successes and the failures - and weaves them skilfully around a shaggy dog tale of comedic rivalry. It establishes Thomas' persona - lacking the boorish arrogance of the stereotypical stand-up, he comes across as thoughtful, sometimes self-deprecating and politically astute. His activism, which leans towards the theatrical, aims to keep within the law, even using the law to support his campaigns. 

Despite being labelled a domestic extremist, Thomas makes his political beliefs appear friendly and humorous, and his actions are less an attack on institutions than an attempt to hold them to a higher standard. His targets, including arms dealers BAE, express his clear moral integrity and his generosity to fellow campaigners, and even the targets is admirable. 

And he can still unfurl a comic anecdote with flair and finesse.

Having set the scene, Thomas comes back in the second act with a precise purpose. Directed by Emma Callendar, Cuckooed is a 'proper play' with props, audio-visual trickery, verbatim dialogue, a soundtrack and everything. While the script follows Thomas' discursive style, it is more focussed and passionate. It tells the true story of how a close friend, a fellow activist, betrayed him and the campaign against the arms trade by spying on their group.

The narrative is tied together by Thomas' charisma and healthy doses of commentary on the issues at stake: by the finale, a video montage of people who have suffered from state or business surveillance, a case is made against the ubiquity of spying. Aside from a rigorous analysis of his own emotions, Thomas brings in testimony from other friends, and even tries to talk to his former ally.

The fusion of personal and political is effective, lending force to his attack on surveillance culture and bringing home the personal cost of political manipulation. Thomas clearly has a comprehensive and intelligent understanding of the relationship between different issues, but avoids conflating them. His attitude towards arms trading, for example, does not need the support of a Marxist analysis of capital. 

It is an exemplar of intelligent and passionate political theatre that demands attention and response.